The marathon is this weekend…

… and I will not be running in it . Nobody’s fault but my own. I was hoping to run the half marathon this year so that I can run the full marathon next year – but I guess I might as well start training for next year. A lot of people I know are hobby runners – they run cause they love to run and they run a marathon every year. I know of some other people who run cause they have a cause – like our friend Rajesh, who runs to find a cure for Autism, on behalf of his son. And then there are those like me – who run – because it is on their list of things to do before they die.

So what makes the hobby runners run and have fun while those like me get disheartened so quickly? It is the attitude. Running is hard work – just like anything else you have to do for the first time. I understand that concept – I am a dancer and when I teach – I see the kids who have a passion for it and those who learn just to say they are learn dance. The same goes for running too – it is how you approach it – like my friend says – you have to love it and enjoy it and not think of it as a chore and celebrate the small victories.

At least I have the shoes (that took long enough for me to get), have the access to the gym (for someone who hates working inside – I sure appreciate all those machines in the winter) and the motive ( gotta be ready for it next year this time). Have you noticed how everything is about numbers? It is the number of miles, number of minutes per mile, the pace, the number of paces, the time etc. It can be very encouraging and discouraging at the same time. They had published the rules for the marathon and said if you don’t cover a certain distance by a certain time, they would put you on a bus and take you to the finish line – that is really awful if you can’t keep up the pace. On the other hand if you can keep up the pace – that is so encouraging. Can you tell I get easily disheartened?

So now I have to come up with a plan to make sure I stick to it – best way is have a whole support group around you. Get the family involved and make it a group event. Anyone got any other ideas – please feel free to help out. As you can tell – I can use all the encouragement. After all it is the journey that counts and not the destination – right?